Second City.

“Hello, mister fireman.” Adrienne held a box of angel hair pasta in her hand as she ogled the man in uniform no more than five feet away. He was still dressed in his bunker suit, most likely stopping off at the store with his crew after a call. With a few frozen pizzas and a gallon of milk gathered in her arms, Bristol rolled her eyes at the sight of her sister’s drooling stare. Tossing her items into the shopping cart, she did have to admit the firemen and cops were one reason she enjoyed shopping at the small store.

“Would you stop staring? They probably think you’re insane.” Sticking her hands into the pouch of her sweatshirt, she could feel her bulging belly. At nearly four and a half months, Bristol now officially had a belly. From the shelf opposite of the one Adrienne was pretending to browses, Bristol grabbed a few cans of soup.

Smiling as he walked past, Adrienne gave a small wave which was accompanied with an innocent smirk. The urge to puke suddenly came over Bristol from watching the actions of her sister. “I think I’m going to give him my number,” Adrienne declared.

“What about Mike?” They made their way over to the giant refrigerators looking for eggs and cheese. “Aren’t you two still going strong?” With the preseason over and the first regular-season games in less than thirty-six hours, Mike and Adrienne had been separated by the distance between California and Illinois. As stubborn as she was, there was no way in hell Adrienne would admit to the amount of pain which collected in her chest from being so far away.

“It’s just sex,” she replied under her breath.

“No,” Bristol corrected her older sister. “It’s not just sex if you feel, the way I think you do about Mike.” Checking the eggs in the carton, Adrienne tried to come up with an excuse which would divert her sister’s attention away from the current subject. She hated admitting when was wrong, especially if she had been proved so by one of her siblings. “You’re somewhat of cougar though,” Bristol laughed. At thirty-one years old, Adrienne was five years Mike’s senior. Muttering a shut up, she playfully shoved Bristol.

•••

As much as she had wanted Dan to stay at home with her, Bristol knew she had to let him go to Dallas. How could she not? He was more pumped about the first game than a kid on Christmas, even if he wasn’t playing. The view from a suite wasn’t as good as the view from the bench. Adrienne followed close behind as Bristol entered the empty condo. The rooms were dark; storm clouds lingered overhead and her hands were too full to turn on the fluorescent lights.

“Where do you want these?” Adrienne asked. She balanced several paper bags in her arms. Pointing to the table, Bristol started unpacking. Last night as Patrick Kane visited, he nearly ate every item of food in the fridge and pantry. She later learned the reason for his surprise stop because he in fact had no food at his place and Bristol always had a stock pile. “What’s up with you? You’ve been way too quiet the past couple of hours.”

Ignoring her sister, Bristol dropped the box of Honeycomb on the counter and dropped down into a chair at the table. The expression on her face blank, no way of telling what was going on the spastic mind of hers. Taking a deep breath and resting her elbows on the table, there was stopping the tears which flowed like river as she placed her head in her hands. Not sure exactly how to react she finished loading the refrigerator before Adrienne pulled up a chair next to Bristol. Rubbing her back slowly, she whispered calming words trying to stop the hormonal tears.

“I fucked up, Adrienne.” Lifting her head up, Bristol wiped the tears from her flush cheeks just as the rain started to fall. Confused, Adrienne looked around the condo seeing if she could spot any of Dan’s belongings missing. Everything seemed to be in place—she couldn’t have fucked up that bad. Hesitantly asking what in fact she had done, Adrienne wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear the answer. “I slept with Danny.”

“Yeah, we all know that.” It wasn’t much of a burden anymore, or so she though, seeing as to how it had happened a while ago.

Instead of offering words of comfort, it only caused Bristol’s tears to come down harder. “No,” Sniffling and grabbing a napkin from the center of the table she continued on. “I slept with Danny four months ago.”

Catching the drift, Adrienne eyed her sister while quickly counting back the months from when the two had bunked together. “No!” Whispering under her breath, “And they called you the good kid.” Grabbing the napkin from Bristol, Adrienne used it to wipe the bleeding eyeliner from her cheeks. “So the real question is: are you carrying a baby Carcillo or a baby Briere; and be honest.”

“Well, for the sake of my marriage I’m hoping it’s a baby Carcillo.”

“I like Briere, a little more,” Adrienne interjected. “His last name is more fun to say. Okay, I’ll shut up now. One more thing; did you tell either of them?”

Bristol shook her head feeling the weight of more guilt being placed on her shoulder. The past months, after realization, has had Bristol in knots. She couldn’t sleep, forced herself to eat and wanted nothing more than to break down and tell Dan the truth. She tried justifying the situation, not placing all blame on herself by remembering it had happened while she and Dan were broken up. There were no doubts in her mind that he was out sleeping around during that time—why would it have been such a big deal if she hooked up with Danny. Oh right, Bristol remember, it was an even bigger deal because the possibilities of her carrying his child were sky-high.

“Of course I didn’t tell them! Why else do you think—out of all people—I would break the news to you. You can’t keep a secret for more than a minute.”

“If you weren’t pregnant, I’d beat the hell out of you.”

Bristol got up and grabbed a cold water bottle from the fridge, forgetting about the laundry basket of dirty clothes Patrick had asked Bristol to wash. She guessed he was between girlfriends and his mom wasn’t due for a visit until later that month. Pressing the cool bottle against the back of her neck to cool her temperature down, she grabbed something to eat from the cabinet. They sat in silence for a minute in an attempt to gather her thoughts. Bristol hadn’t planned on telling anyone unless it was absolutely necessary. The Briere traits were dominant and if she gave birth to a son who resembled Caelan, Carson or Cameron, then it would be an appropriate time to discuss paternity with both men. There would be nothing to worry about if the baby looked like her. Pointing a finger to Adrienne, Bristol’s eyes turned the deepest shade of blue. “Not a word of this to anyone. If Dan were to find out, it would ruin him.”

•••

Sitting cross-legged on the sofa with a laundry basket beside her, Bristol gnawed on the inside of her lower lip trying to keep her focus on anything other than the television screen. Common sense would have told her turn the channel an hour ago but she couldn’t bring herself to grab the remote. Plus, it was sitting on the on the far end of the table she really had interest in getting up. Shielding her eyes with one of Patrick’s folded t-shirts, relief rolled through her body in waves after hearing the distant ting of a frozen puck hitting the goal post. The minutes ticked away slow on a tied, 1-1 game. Dallas had blown their lead after becoming lazy and tired around the ten minute mark of the second.

She could tell the boys in the white sweaters were in desperation mode; just peppering the net with shots hopping one would eventually go in. Crawford had been a beast all night—only giving up a power play goal after Seabrook had been sent away to the sin bin on a bogus 2 minute roughing call.

All night she and Dan had been text-messaging. Bristol could tell Dan was eager to lace up the skates and play an official game as one of Chicago’s new acquisitions. He was just as nervous as she was; praying the boys could pull a win and already he had marked a few Stars for the next time the teams faceoff. The way Kane and Toews have been thrown around and taken out by a bunch of punk-asses in green sweaters didn’t sit well with the suspended enforcer.

Overnight, Dan had called a total of six times in less than thirty minutes to ensure Bristol was safe and sound. When her phone buzzed sometime around one in the morning, Bristol threatened to reach through the phone and strangle him if he didn’t stop calling. She was tired and in the need for some much need sleep. Plus, he had woken her up from an extremely hot dream with Sidney Crosby standing out a sun-setting beach with a cool breeze whipping his hair back. She had spared Dan the details.

It was devastating end to a game well played, and out of all the men, it had to be Burish who somehow managed to score the game winning goal. The man was put on the ice for no more reason’s as to why Daniel was with Chi. Bristol wasn’t self-centered but she couldn’t stop wondering if the goal had been meant as a big ‘fuck you’ to her. She still couldn’t understand why he had a grudge against her; she had done the both of them a favor when she decided to move to Philly with Kris instead of Dallas with him. They two of them were way too much alike and would have ended up killing each other.

Turing of the television, not really interested in who the three stars were, Bristol piled Patrick’s clothes into the basket and tossed it to the ground. Chief opened his eyes and looked at Bristol disgruntled; pissed that she awoke him from his nap. She muttered an apology as she picked up her buzzing phone. Dan’s name was splashed across the screen, “Right on time,” pressing the button with the little phone; Bristol held it against her ear. “Hello, handsome.”

“Handsome? You know this is your husband you’re talking to.”

“Damn it,” Bristol stretched her legs out; rotated her ankles. “I thought you were one of my boyfriends. Are you guys getting ready to head to the airport?”

“Yeah; looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. Hotel’s suck.” She could hear the distinct sound of male laughter on the other end on the other end of the time. The guys were giving Dan hell for calling her; it was most likely Seabrook and Kane who were making the smooching noises. “Patrick wants to know if his laundry is done and Jon said to be at his place by ten. Apparently you know the details?”

“Tell the little shit that I did do his laundry. His clothes actually smells clean and were washed in a washing machine—not the sink. And, we’re supposed to be at Jonathan’s for a breakfast thing at ten, I guess. As team captain he likes treating the guys to a good meal on the day of the home opener.” Bristol had jacked one of Patrick’s shirts after spilling a drop of bleach her pervious one—it was one of the most comfortable under shirts she had ever worn and now planned to never give it back. She guessed he wouldn’t want it anyway; her belly had stretched it out.

As Dan cleared his throat, Bristol closed her eyes and imagined him running a hand through his 1970’s hair. It was only his first night away and ready she was missing the hell out of him. How the hell was she supposed to survive during the circus trip? “I miss you.” She blurted out.

“I miss you, too. We’re about ready to get on the bus; I should be home no later than two.”

“If I’m asleep, don’t you even think about waking me up.” She waited a few seconds to see if he would say the words she wanted to hear after agreeing to her first request. “Say, it Daniel.” Bristol demanded. A satisfied smile spread across her lips as she imagined his cheeks burning a deep red.

“I can’t, all the guys are here.” She didn’t care. Giving up—and not wanting to sleep on the sofa—Dan took in a deep breath. “I love you.” In the background Bristol could hear the guys as began taunting their teammate. There laughter was loud and so were their inappropriate comments.

Returning the gesture, Bristol headed into the bedroom to prep herself for bed. Already her eyelids were beginning to feel like cinderblocks. “I love you, too.”